The hour was late.
I looked at my stack of chips again, but it was still short. Not seriously short, but I was missing $100 and some change from my buy-in.
I made some stabs at small pots, but they went awry. My K-2 lost to K-Q and my jacks-up lost to three 7s. Funny how that works — often you need the best hand to win in poker.
A few laps go by and in late position, I peek down at K-J offsuit. Not a great hand but certainly a playable hand. I toss out a raise of 6.5x the big blind and get several callers.
The dealer, who had been offering opinions on NFL games, burns a card and puts out a flop of A-Q-x with one diamond. Well, that’s not a great flop for my hand, but I do pick up a “gutshot” or inside straight draw. All we would need would be a 10, and we would be in good shape. And there are four unseen 10s among the 47 unseen cards so it’s roughly an 11- or 12-1 shot to make a serious hand.
The limpers all check to me, and I toss out a “nuisance” bet of $7 into the $65 pot. Of course, any of the players could have check-raised me and forced me to seriously reconsider my hand, my strategy and my weltanschauung in general. One player actually folds to my nuisance bet, but two players call.
I’m rooting seriously hard for a 10 and using positive visualization for a 10. The dealer burns and turns again and we go to fourth street or the turn. And it’s a … 10. A bee-U-t-ful 10. Oh, thank you poker gods, I will never speak ill of you again.
But something unusual occurs. One of the early limpers leads out for almost the size of the pot. My first thought, considering he has been very quiet, is that he has the same hand as me. My second thought is that since I have the best hand at this point, I need to get all my remaining chips in the pot.
The dealer is now theorizing on the Lions-Vikings game for the weekend. He seems to know what he is talking about, but the NFL is furthest from my mind.
I stack up my remaining chips, slide them into the pot, and declare all-in.
Then something else unusual occurs. Another caller starts thinking. And thinking. And thinking. There are now two diamonds on board, and my first thought is that he has picked up a diamond flush draw. After thinking some more, he calls the all-in. It circles back to the bettor who also calls. I’m all in, but both of those players still have chips behind. Regardless, the first caller wants to show his hand, and he does: 7-2 of diamonds. The dealer reminds him that he and the other player still have chips, and there is another card to come.
I’m now rooting hard for a small black card on the river. Any card but a diamond would be good. If the board pairs, full houses and even quads are possible. But in this scenario unlikely. I think. But what do I know?
The dealer stops talking Lions-Vikings long enough to burn and turn for fifth street or the river. It’s the most beautiful card I’ve seen in a month of Sundays. It’s the spade 6. Hallelujah, and thank you poker gods. Both players with chips check. The guy who led out on the turn tables A-K for top pair, top kicker. The other guy shows his 7-2 of diamonds again — thanks but we’ve seen that.
And I show my straight, which in this case is the stone-cold nuts. The dealer starts pushing me the pot. It’s a welcome sight and will turn what would have been a losing day into a winning day.
But strategy-wise, what about the guy with A-K? If he had open raised in front of me before the flop, would I have even called the bet? I might seriously have considered that my K-J was dominated, which in fact it was, and thrown it away. And if he had check-raised my nuisance bet of $7 on the turn and made it $50 to go, what would I have then done?
Such a fun game. Such a richly textured game. Such a game of nuances and strategy and math. And luck.
I cashed out my chips. The property, a Las Vegas locals joint, was giving away swag that particular day, and I had accumulated just enough hours to collect the swag, which turned out to be an attractive Vegas Golden Knights pull-over.
I picked out a size 2XL, which should fit more than comfortably, and headed for the exits.
And I reminded myself, a little luck can turn a losing day into a winning day with one flip of card.
